Tonight, I'm Gone
by monoxide girl
Summary: Naruto won't ever give up. He'll always chase the Uchiha. Sasuke, in the end, doesn't mind. Twoshot. NaruSasu. Rated for language. After the Timeskip. COMPLETE.
1. Tonight, I'm Gone

_Disclaimer: You know the drill._

_A/N: I was really pleased with this fic. So, I'm in want of feedback. I thought, why not post it on too? It's on my LJ, and it was originally written for the 20loves challenge on LJ; even though I'm not officially in the community. As I've said on my user page, I'm not comfortable with my level of writing at the current moment. This is big enough as it is. Hn...it is AFTER THE TIME SKIP. After. A long time after. Sasuke and Naruto are in their early twenties. So no going ZOMG SASUKE BLAH BLAH. _

_kthx. Feedback is, of course, desired. No outright flames, please. I'll be very pissed off if I get flames on this. Constructive comments only. Tell me if you hate it, but tell me what about it you hate. If you just plain love it, say so! Ego boosts make me a happy girl._

_And please forgive the OOC nature of this. I tried.  
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**Tonight, I'm Gone.**

_Dead punk Girl_

There was an annoying buzzing in Naruto's left ear. He only vaguely heard it, lying sprawled on the chilled tiled floor, unconscious to the world. Slowly, sky-colour eyes and the blond shinobi looked about without lifting his head. His gaze drifted upwards, resting on the fluorescent light that was obviously on it's last life.

Groaning, he rolled onto his back with a wince, pain shooting up and down his spine. That bastard Sasuke...his fists hurt when they needed to. But that wasn't really what hurt the most and Naruto knew that without a shadow of a doubt. It was the fact that, even now that Itachi was dead and Orochimaru was a memory, Sasuke wasn't coming home. Naruto had always, always had the sneaking suspicion that he'd be chasing the Uchiha for the rest of his life and their last encounter had proved that.

Only, he hadn't come out victorious as he had intended. Rather, he had gotten fooled and wound up unconscious on the Akatsuki Complex floor, fairly certain that the other male would drive the Kusanagi through his spine and end his life. But, instead, he had been spared either by the Gods good Graces or by Sasuke's own mercy. Whatever was left of that, of course.

"Fucking...asshole," Naruto grit his teeth as he sat up, rubbing the back of his neck absently, his fingers pressing against the bruise to check for anything else.

"Good morning to you, too."

Naruto jumped and turned his head with a pained wince, his eyes widening at the figure who stood, leaning casually against the wall. Really, he hadn't changed so much. His hair was still in that ridiculous duck-butt spike, Naruto noticed with a faint frown. The idiot changes everything else but not his stupid hair-do.

"Why are you still here?"

"Because," Sasuke pushed off the wall and stepped towards him, keeping a safe distance at the same time, "I know you. If I wasn't here, you'd go looking. You'd rip this complex apart, blowing holes in the walls with Rasengan, wouldn't you?"

Nothing had changed; not really. Even after nearly ten years, nothing had actually changed and Naruto hated that more than he hated the chilly, condescending tone he was being addressed with.

"So why didn't you kill me?" Naruto snarled, "You had the chance. You could have driven that sword right through me after you knocked me out, you bastard. So why didn't you?"

"Why would I?" He drawled, "I have no reason to kill you at the moment. You're good for the organization...Sir Leader would kill me if I killed you and your little pet fox."

Naruto grit his teeth, dimly remembering the day Tsunade announced that the former Leaf genin Uchiha Sasuke had taken his brother's place in Akatsuki. He shifted, the tile numbing him and for once, Naruto didn't mind; "So, what? That's it? That's the only reason? Sasuke, we were friends once! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Sure, I guess," He shrugged his shoulders in response, "But why would it now?"

The blond gaped for a few moments before he chuckled almost bitterly, which was so unlike Naruto it was almost scary. Shaking his head, he sighed; "I didn't think so. So you didn't kill me because your boss would pitch a fit?"

"Exactly."

"You're so full of shit," Naruto snarled under his breath, irritation making his tone tight. He could feel the Kyuubi stirring and it took all his effort not to turn and stare at his former friend, former team-mate. It had taken all his self-control not to stare the first time, when he had seen the Uchiha starting up the flight of stairs.

The curse seal ran rampant across his cheeks, like spilt ink on silk, and without the sharingan his one eye was an off-gold color. His Sound headband bore a strike, apparently put there by that blond guy who took Shukaku.

"How," Sasuke demanded, making the simple statement sound nothing like the question it should have been, "You're the last one, dobe. The only one with a demon left. You've done a good job evading us."

"When are you going to quit bull-shitting yourself about everything?" Naruto growled out, finally allowing his eyes to rest on the other shinobi, "When you're dead? When I'm dead? Gods, Sasuke…why are you doing this to yourself? To me?"

"Oh. Like you matter anymore," The Uchiha shook his head, moving close to kneel down next to him, "You see, Dobe, that's where you're wrong. Not the entire world cares about you or what you want."

"You used to."

"I used to do a lot of things," Sasuke remarked with a shrug of his shoulders, his off-colour eyes watching the other carefully. Vaguely, Naruto noticed that he hadn't brought the Sharingan forward, which meant he didn't consider him a threat or he wasn't interested in a fight; "But things change. So do people."

The blond swallowed a little, closing his eyes briefly, "Things haven't changed. You haven't changed; not really. You're still the same Sasuke I remember…just…you seem further away from me. And I haven't changed, either. I'm always going to be chasing after you."

"That's by your own stupidity, and that alone," He snapped back, "I never asked you to come on this stupid quest to save me. You _assumed _that I wanted saving. I never asked you to."

Naruto wanted to hit him, "_You didn't have to!_" He cried, biting his lip as he realized how loud he had been. The last thing he needed was to alert everyone of their location; "You didn't have to, Sasuke. You're my friend. Friends help each other. We were team mates!"

"So you think that gives you a right to act like you understand everything so goddamned well?" He hissed back, "You think that because we were 'friends' and 'team mates' it gave you a right to just jump in like the hero and save me? Please, Dobe. I'm not Sakura; I don't need rescuing."

"And nor does she! But you'd know that if you were there," Naruto lowered his eyes, then, exhaling breathily as he ran a hand through his hair, "I suppose…now, you're going to just hand me over to Akatsuki and let 'em kill me, right?"

There was a very long, pregnant silence between them at that. It made Naruto's skin prickle because Sasuke always, _always, _had an answer to everything.

"That seems like the smart thing to do, huh?" He finally asked, "That sounds like it would be the best choice. But where's the fun in the capture if I just…cheat?"

"You didn't cheat, Sasuke, you beat me fair and square," Naruto was still sour over that fact, "So if that's what you want to do, then by all means, do it."

Sasuke sat, then, showing the first real signs of anything other than chilly distance since they ran into each other, "You want to die?"

"Nope. Who wants that?"

"No one. Then what do you want?"

Naruto was quiet, his eyes remaining on his legs before they slowly raised to meet the other boy's, "You, Sasuke. I want you; I want you to come home, to make things better, to go back to who you were," He waved a hand in gesture to the seal on his cheeks, the Akatsuki cloak he now wore, the sliced Sound headband, the off-colour of his eyes, "This…this isn't you. This is you pretending to be something you're not. You're not an Akatsuki villain. You're my friend."

"And I guess this is you in denial?" Sasuke drawled, shaking his head, "Why can't you just understand, Dobe? I'm not who you want me to be anymore. Does that bother you so much?"

"Of course it does," Naruto shook his head, "I mean, why wouldn't it?" He was quiet, then, his tongue coming out to lick at his dry lips, "I…Sasuke, I do care about you. Even through all this, I still…well, you know. I still think of you as a Konoha Shinobi. The Old Lady…she'll listen to me. She'll pardon you, if I ask her to."

There was a soft snort as a response, "And who said I want you to? You can't be as dumb as you look, Naruto. You can't be. Dumb shinobi are dead shinobi, and you aren't dead."

"So I guess this is how it is, right? You're always going to be that one step ahead, and I'm always going to be chasing you? Is that it?"

"I guess so."

Naruto sighed, "I should probably give up."

"Probably," Slowly, Sasuke rose to his feet, the red clouds on his cloak rippling like water. His eyes remained on the blond, never wavering for a moment; "Seems like the wise choice."

"I'm not going to," His voice was unusually small and quiet, "You caused me so much heartache. I couldn't eat or sleep because of you. At those moments," A chuckle, "I hated you. And yet, I don't regret a single moment I spent with you. You pushed me. You made me better in more ways than I can count…" He smiled, almost sadly, as he looked up at him, "That's why. That's why I _won't _give up until you're back in Konoha. Even if I have to break every --"

"Bone in my body," Sasuke finished quietly, "I know. And you promise me that, and you don't back down from your promises. It's your ninja way. I know, Naruto. I've heard this speech a hundred times before."

"So why don't you save me the trouble and just come home?"

"Because I don't want to," He shook his head, offering him a hand up, "…Just go, alright? Before someone comes down here and finds you. Consider this mercy, okay?"

Naruto was silent, staring at the outstretched hand almost dumbly. He took it, accepting the help and once he was up, he dusted his front off; "If you say so. I'll see you again, won't I?"

"So long as you have Kyuubi, yes."

"Are you sure you don't want to come back?" He had to try; he had to ask at least once more. He couldn't let that chance slip by.

"…Yes. I'm sure," There was a hesitation that hadn't been there before and Naruto couldn't help but grin. Instantly, his arms shot out, catching the other boy in a bone-crushing hug. He held tight, despite the squeak of protest and the hands that were now pressing against his chest in a futile attempt to dislodge him; "My god, Naruto! Let me go, goddamnit! You fucking loser! Let go!"

"No," His voice was firm, nothing more than a heated whisper against his ear, "I'll never actually let you go. You hear me, Sasuke-bastard?"

Silence.

He gave a slight squeeze, "You hear me?"

"Of course I hear you," Sasuke hissed back, "You're talking in my ear, dumb ass. You going to let go of me now?"

A laugh, "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

Slowly, he let his arms unwind from the thin figure in front of him, grinning none the less, "I've never hugged you before. You're awfully skinny…I could probably break you over my knee."

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed, entirely unwilling to admit that, despite their situation, he had liked being held by those strong arms.

"You gotta change that light, too," The blond remarked, nodding up to the flickering light bulb, "It's goddamned annoying."

"I will. Just…go already, will you?"

"Trying to get rid of me?" Naruto grinned, "That's not very nice, y'know. You could have hurt my feelings."

"Like I give a shit. Just get the fuck out of here, Naruto."

This time, he obeyed, moving towards the door he came in through. Sasuke did the same, shuffling over to the door on the opposite side of the room that lead to the staircase. However, he paused and looked back, smiling sadly; "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, I guess."

"Really?"

"No."

Naruto gaped for a minute before his eyes narrowed, his lips pulling into a pout, "Bastard."

"Idiot," Sasuke tugged the door open, glancing back at him, "Get going, Dobe. Don't just stand there."

"…Ne, Sasuke?" The blond's voice was again hushed and he couldn't help but smile a little at him, "I love you."

Silence.

Naruto took that cue and slipped through the door, but he didn't leave. Instead, he turned and pressed his ear against the door to listen. He had to strain to hear it, but it was there.

"I love you, too, Dobe."

The door creaked shut then, and Naruto knew that he was gone without even having to look.


	2. Today, I'm Here

_Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. None of it. No profit was made from this._

_AN: Finally posting it. It's not as good as the first one, but it's decent. There isn't much else to say. So I say no more._

**Today, I'm Here**

_Dead punk Girl_

Their first encounter had been by luck alone. They had, distantly, been aware of this. Neither commented on it, and weeks passed by, blurring into months.

Their second encounter had come in Rain. Naruto was sitting, slurping up his dinner of ramen noodles, when a familiar figure dropped down a few seats over. At first, the blond hadn't put much thought into the stranger. But it was upon hearing that chilled voice, that voice that had hung on the corners of his subconscious, blossomed nightmares in which blood-red sharing an eyes stared down at him, he spared a glance at the person.

Sasuke had always hated Ramen. Always; he wasn't sure why, but it had something to do with Naruto, he knew. Perhaps it was the fact that the blond youth always carried the scent on him like a second skin, or how he always seemed to think only of the noodle dish when a young, growing shinobi needed better sustenance? Kakashi had always said he'd wind up in a hospital because of his diet. So, he wasn't entirely sure what had compelled him to take a seat at the small stand and order himself a bowl of chicken flavoured ramen. That was unlike him.

"I thought you hated the stuff," Naruto commented mutely, slurping a bit more of his food as he eyed the figure, clad in the red and black coat of Akatsuki.

"I do, Dobe. I'm just hungry."

"So you pick the stand that I'm at? There's one down the road; go there," He had to keep the bite from his tone. Sasuke had been the last person he wanted to see. Not that he was a sore loser or anything like that, no, he was just…well, he was still mildly irritated.

"I've already ordered," Sasuke replied in that placid tone of his, "Just eat, Naruto. I'm not interested in arguing about this with you."

Silence settled over the small shop, the owner seemingly unaware of their toned-down discussion. Naruto had already sunk into his second bowl of the evening when Sasuke finally finished his meal and spoke again.

"So why are you in Rain?"

The blond swallowed the mouthful of noodles, "The pervert said it'd be good training to come here. I think he just wants to see the women. And he uses my cash to do it."

For the first time, Sasuke was almost thankful that Orochimaru had been who he was. At least he wasn't slowly being robbed for the purpose of buying hookers.

"And you don't go with him?" The Uchiha prodigy tilted his head, "Hn. That's unusual."

"Why?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I don't want some dirty, disease ridden-prostitute, thanks. I've got my standards."

"And you've got that desire of Sakura, too," He noted with an arched eyebrow, "That has nothing to do with it, am I correct?"

"You are," He agreed, finishing off his meal, "Sakura and I are friends. Simple as that. I mean, it was complicated for a while there…but it's all figured out now."

Sasuke nodded his understanding quietly before he shifted in his chair, looking about, "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

A pause, "What for?"

"Does that matter?" He asked dryly, frowning a little, "Do you honestly think that Jiraiya will be pleased to see you sitting with me? Come on. What's it going to hurt?"

The memory of their last encounter flared in his the front of his mind, making fear wind in his belly. Alone, it would be so very easy for Sasuke to kill him; to catch him off-guard and run that sword that hung on his hip through the center of his ribcage. But then again, his defeat couldn't come _that _easily. He'd fight back with all he had, that was for sure. After a long moment, he stood, dropping his money onto the counter. He had long since learned where to hide his spare change. The Toad-Sannin may have been a pervert, but he wasn't interested in digging around in the other nin's pockets for whatever cash was not handed over with the wallet.

They stepped out from under the ramen stall's overhang just as the downpour began, soaking the two boys almost immediately. Sasuke just tugged his thick cloak tighter about his body, eyeing the blond before he set off down the streets.

Naruto made a face but pursued him, futilely trying to cover his head with his arms, "This is why I hate it here."

Sasuke just murmured his agreement and kept walking, now slick mud squishing between his shoes. He hated the rain. It had rained on his first trip back to the manor since the massacre. Though, in Sound he had taken up the hobby of sitting by the window and watching the steady, winter drizzle.

"So," Naruto had long since given up trying to protect his hair from the rain, blond strands clinging to tanned skin, brown from the moisture they had absorbed, "Considered coming back to Konoha?"

"No," He replied flatly, leading the way towards the hotel he was in. Absently, he noted that he hadn't the slightest idea of _what _to say to him once they were alone. But that could always come later; "Stop asking."

Naruto's eyes narrowed very briefly at him before he sighed a little, allowing silence to drift over them. This was how it was going to be; Sasuke was always going to be just that little bit out of his reach, close but not close enough to grasp, and touch and keep. He had known that, of course. Their last meeting had proved that. But Sasuke had said those three little words. He had heard them, through the cold steel doors of the complex. He had heard them and once back in Konoha, it had taken all his willpower not to go back and demand an explanation.

He had kept their reunion a secret. The fact that he had gone to the Akatsuki complex alone was practically suicidal. And Jiraiya and Tsunade wouldn't fail to make note of that. And then there was Kakashi, and Sakura and Sai and everyone else who would be furious about his stupidity.

He was aware of this, and yet, he was going off with the Uchiha to only God knew where to be alone with him.

"Do you remember," Sasuke stated suddenly, "When you said you loved me?"

Pause.

"Do you, Naruto?"

"…Yeah," The blond began slowly, cautiously, unwilling to reveal the slight tremor in his voice. God, he hated how Sasuke could make him tremble like that; "What about it?"

"Did you mean it?"

Naruto couldn't say that didn't catch him off-guard. He blinked dumbly at the Uchiha, opening his mouth a little to reply before he sighed; "Did you?"

It was Sasuke's turn to stare. Naruto had the feeling that the response would shut him up; he wasn't supposed to know that he had confessed his emotions, his words swept away by the dull buzz of a dying fluorescent light.

The silence was, for now, a good enough indication of that. He'd make a point of asking later, when the tension had eased. Even after all the years, they were still friends, he assumed. Despite the forced civility, and the chilled tones. They were still friends; Sasuke would always be that one step ahead and Naruto would always be chasing.

But if that kept them together, than that was the way it had to be.

The hotel room that Sasuke slipped into was dark, and dirty and smelt of mould. The Kusanagi was propped against the wall near what Naruto presumed to be the bathroom, and he watched as Sasuke tugged off his Akatsuki cloak, throwing it over one chair.

"Make yourself comfortable."

Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted to. Everything about this room gave him the chills, sending little shivers of fear down his spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Uh…sure. Thanks," He moved over to one of the chairs at the small table, dropping down into it. It creaked, as if about to give out on him, before silence once again settled. Sasuke had dropped onto the bed and was picking at the dirt under his nail with a kunai, his off-color eyes focusing on that.

"You never answered my question," Sasuke began, glancing up at him, "Did you mean it?"

"You never answered mine."

"I asked first," Sasuke countered with a frown, "Now answer."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, messing it even more, "I-I don't know if I meant it or not, Sasuke. Why does that matter now?" That awkward silence blanketed the room and he sighed softly, "I guess…I guess I did. It's not going to change anything. It's not going to bring you back. So why does it matter? I was being stupid, okay? Just…blindly throwing things around."

"It could."

"What could?"

"It could change things," Sasuke commented as he rose to his feet. His footsteps seemed loud on the wooden floor and Naruto noted he was wearing boots, not his usual sandals. He seemed restless, as if his thoughts weren't in proper order; "I mean, it probably won't but…it could."

"You're trying to tell me that if I meant it, then you'd come back?" Naruto asked slowly, trying to follow the jumbled thought pattern, "Is that what you're trying to get out?"

"No!" Sasuke replied sharply, shaking his head, "I mean…maybe. I don't know. I can't go back now. I mean, look at me. Look at what I've become."

"You can change."

"It's too late for that."

"Says who?" Naruto insisted with a frown, "I told you; I can convince the Tsunade to pardon you, if you want me to."

"Fuck, Naruto. Would you listen to the bullshit your spewing? I can, I can, I can…You _can't. _You keep running after me, you're going to run into a wall, you fucking idiot."

"I hit that months ago," The blond snarled back, "I hit that when you left! But I kept running. You give up too easily. That's your problem. Things don't go your way and you quit! I meant what I said! I haven't gotten you out of my head, Sasuke. Not since you left. Nothing will change that. But you just shrug us all off like we mean nothing."

"You don't mean anything!" Sasuke's hands balled into fists, frustration making his voice tight, "You never have and you never fucking will. I fucking hate you. You and that shit-eating grin of yours. Fuck, you make me fucking sick."

Naruto was completely silent for a few moments before he stood, moving over to the Uchiha. For the second time, he wrapped his arms around him. But unlike the first time, Sasuke didn't protest or try to push him away. He just leaned into the blond, allowing himself to be held.

"I do mean something. Otherwise, you would have killed me. Or taken me to Sir Leader. Or _something_. But you wouldn't have let me go like that. You don't leave this sort of thing unfinished, Sasuke."

"I thought I quit if things didn't go my way," Sasuke shot back, dryly, "Just…shut up, Naruto."

He sighed softly and did as told, just holding the other, trying to comfort him. What else could he do now? There wasn't any changing his mind, that much was obvious.

That silence stretched out for far longer than either would have liked, and it was Naruto who broke it finally, his voice low,

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Doing what?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head down to look at the blond.

Naruto sighed, "This," He repeated, "All this shit. You can't be happy."

"I'm not," The Uchiha stated simply, "Whatever made you think I was?"

"…Then why?"

"Why not?" He answered, shrugging his shoulders as best he could.

"That's not an answer!" The Kyuubi-vessel protested, "If this isn't making you happy, then what would make you happy?"

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head as he pulled back from Naruto's hold, "Don't ask stupid questions, Dobe," Moving over to the bed, he flopped down, kicking his boots off, "Just shut up."

Naruto scowled, not liking this conversation, not liking the hurt swelling in his chest. He was so close, and yet, so far away still. The unbreakable wall of ice that had been around the Uchiha before had only grown thicker as time passed and he was now on the other end, unable to do anything.

"Know what will make me happy?" Sasuke began suddenly, "If you walk out that door and find someone who will treat you right," A pause, "I can die happy if I know you're happy."

Naruto could only smile a little, "You make me happy, you bastard."

"How?" The Avenger propped himself up on his elbows, blinking, "You're crazy."

This made the blond laugh and he shook his head, turning towards the hotel door. So maybe he wasn't that far away after all. Sasuke was still Sasuke. And that was all he could have hoped for.

Ice melted, after all.

"I'll see you around, asshole."

Sasuke made a face and dropped back down, "Yeah, yeah. See you, Dobe."

And that was that.

Naruto would never claim that their meeting on that rainy day was something spectacular. But it was something; he would admit that. And it would only be a matter of time before Sasuke was home where he belonged.

He wasn't really that far away, after all.


End file.
